Mix, edit, clean up tracks

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: For vocal edits-try and make it as dry and flat as possible, avoid adding your own effects (reverb, echo...) I can do that upon request. For bands sending music-individual tracks, with minimal effects, and not so loud (ideally -6dB)

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: I recorded a personal project a few years ago, all of the songs are on my SoundCloud. I'm proud of it because of the process. I produced everything 100%, all of the music and vocals and mixing and drum programming and even some turn table cuts. I challenged myself and put myself out on a ledge with skillsets I didn't think I had, using minimal equipment to do it. Some of the songs were recorded on a Tascam 4 track tape deck...just to see if I could do it, it's pretty in depth music. www.soundcloud.com/thoughtseyemanifest

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: Right now I a mixing a bunch of songs for a rapper in Charlotte. He has got a really cool sound and he sings. It's Been fun to mix because he's so dynamic.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: I love analog. It's expensive, but it's pure and I will multitrack using an Tascam tape recorder when I can. I prefer working with digital, because it's easier and faster, naturally, especially in editing.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: I will always give my best effort. I cannot please everyone and sometimes a client is dissatisfied, but I have never finished something that I slacked on.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I'm an audiophile by nature. I absolutely obsessed with hearing a clean mix over any type of sound system.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: People ask why do I charge so much for track editing as opposed to full mixes. The truth is, mixing is fun for me and I can be done with a mix in a few hours, however editing a 2 hour podcast is tedious and takes panestaking focus to get every inch of the recording cleaned up. It's a little more than going into Pro Tools and highlighting and clicking the "silence" cue.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: 10 years.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Before you touch your $3000 rack unit...listen to the music through your ears first, it might save time and energy.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: 85% of the time I work with hip hop artists. It's not a personal bias as I love mixing all kinds of music, however, it's usually rappers who approach me.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Patience. Listening to the sounds in the mix as opposed to fully relying on the fancy gadgets. Sometimes listening to what's already there saves time.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: Most of the work I do revolves around editing and cleaning up vocal tracks for vocalists and rappers. Cleaning up tracks consists of muting a lot of the dead spaces in between takes, boosting volume, eliminating pops, clicks, deessing. I also do a lot of work taking a band's previously recorded tracks, putting them into a multitrack program and editing and blending it and bringing the song to life.